Arionas earned his BS in Nutrition from Harokopio University of Athens in Greece, his MS in Clinical and Public Health Nutrition from the University College London (UCL), United Kingdom, and his PhD in Molecular and Translational Biomedicine from ETH Zürich in Switzerland. He has been awarded the PhD Fellowship of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation as well as the Greek National Scholarship Foundation (IKY).

Personal Statement

Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) are modern pandemics, creating major health burden in most parts of the developed and developing world. In the Patti Lab, I will analyze the heterogeneity that exists among different cells in white adipose tissue. This project can shed light into several aspects of the pathophysiology of obesity and T2D risk and create a reference for scientists who are interested in adipose tissue research. I am also studying molecular and potential epigenetic mechanisms by which improvement in paternal metabolic disease can have a beneficial effect on his offspring. Ultimately, I aim to understand whether treating T2D and obesity in parents has the potential to benefit not only them but also their children.

Since my first studies in the science of nutrition, I gained great interest in the field of energy homeostasis. How does our body regulate energy balance? And what events can disrupt this finely tuned homeostasis and lead to obesity, insulin resistance and T2D? From very early on I realized that I can have a positive impact to those who suffer from obesity and metabolic diseases by studying the pathogenesis of these conditions. My motivation stems from pursuing impactful research and contributing towards pharmacological and genetic approaches that can regulate the function of crucial metabolic organs such as the adipose tissue and the liver.